Yesterday we celebrated ‘Mothers’ Day’ which is a fantastic recognition of the role wonderful women play in all of our lives. I hope every Mum, Grandmother, Aunt or ‘other’, had a wonderful day. We should celebrate good women in our lives. The images and news we have all watched about the awful incidents of gender-based violence in Australia have been awful. Those things stand in such stark contrast to the celebration of ‘Mothers’ Day’. The vast majority of people and the vast majority of men would never dream of causing harm to someone they love. What part do most of us then play in this? At the very least, awareness. Blokes, mostly, need to be able to challenge their mates when stories come up about treating women with anything less than the utmost respect. Girls need awareness. They need to never buy into the nonsense that would justify poor behaviour from a bloke because, ‘my girlfriend / partner / spouse, made me mad!’ No one else is responsible for my emotional responses other than me! Girls need to run a thousand miles from a boy who would treat them with anything less than respect. Girls need to be ‘aware’ that it is not their job to ‘change’ a boy.

School Funding – the Federal Government is changing the ways in which Independent and Catholic schools are being funded. You may hear about something called the ‘School Resourcing Index’. This is the amount the Government considers it should cost to educate a student in a Primary or Secondary school in Australia. State and Federal Governments contribute to educating every child at Shalom. The Federal Government is by far our biggest contributor. They are taking steps that they believe might make school funding more fair. But, there will be winners and losers. The Federal Government has reviewed the amount individual schools (parents) need to contribute to the cost of their child’s education in an Independent or Catholic school. They have come up with a tool called the ‘Direct Measure of Income’ (DMI) which gleans data from the tax records of every family with a child enrolled in a non State school. Schools with parents who have a ‘high’ DMI ie wealthier families, will receive less Government funding than those with lower DMIs. This will mean some significant changes. Some Independent and Catholic schools whose parent populations are better off, will see school fees increase – some substantially. Shalom has a comparatively lower DMI which will mean that our fees won’t have to rise as significantly as some schools. More information will come out as we move forward so that parents are fully informed of the changes and why they come about. Change in this area is always tricky but parents should be aware that fees for students in Catholic schools in the Rockhampton Diocese, including Shalom, have been among the lowest in the country to date.

Learner Conferences are scheduled for next Tuesday (21 May) afternoon / evening for Year 9-12. I love seeing lots of parents, with their daughter or son, attending these nights. At the very least, it is a very clear statement to your child about how seriously you take their education. The effectiveness of schooling is directly proportional to how closely and well parents and teachers cooperate. Thank you to all of those who take part.